[07/12/07 - 11:19 PM]Academy Award(R), Golden Globe Winner and Hollywood Legend Ernest Borgnine Stars in 'A Grandpa for Christmas,' a Hallmark Original Movie Premiering December 1Borgnine stars as a retired showman who is forced into guardianship over the nine-year-old granddaughter he's never met after his estranged daughter is hospitalized following a car crash in the Hallmark original.

[via press release from The Hallmark Channel]

A LONELY SENIOR'S LIFE TURNS UPSIDE DOWN WHEN HE BECOMES AN INSTANT GUARDIAN TO THE GRANDDAUGHTER HE HAS NEVER KNOWN

Academy Award� and Golden Globe winner � and Hollywood legend -- Ernest Borgnine stars as a retired showman who is forced into guardianship over the nine-year-old granddaughter he's never met after his estranged daughter is hospitalized following a car crash in "A Grandpa for Christmas," a Hallmark Original Movie premiering Saturday, December 1 (9/8 c). Show-stopping newcomer Juliette Goglia ("Joan of Arcadia") stars opposite the iconic Borgnine. Katherine Helmond ("Everybody Loves Raymond"), Richard Libertini ("Fletch"), Tracy Nelson ("Down and Out in Beverly Hills") and Jamie Farr ("M*A*S*H") star in this warm tale of a separated family coming together under some unusual circumstances.

80-year-old Bert O'Riley (played by the spry 90-year-old Borgnine) agrees to take in his nine-year-old granddaughter, Becca (Goglia) after his estranged daughter, Marie, (Nelson) is involved in a car accident. A 25-year divorcee, Bert's not much good at living with other people, much less a little girl who's been told only the worst about her grandfather.

As Becca slowly warms to Bert, the two find a connection in a school Christmas pageant which Becca wishes to join. Bert enlists the help of his fellow showbiz retiree pals � Roxie (Helmond), Adam (Farr) and Karl (Richard Libertini, "The District") � to help get her in shape. Bert is eventually called on to take over the show, bringing Christmas joy to his granddaughter, his family and his friends back in his home.

"A Grandpa for Christmas" is a RHI Entertainment presentation of an Alpine Medien Film in Association with Larry Levinson Productions. Robert Halmi, Jr. and Larry Levinson are the executive producers. Nick Lombardo and Michael Moran are co-executive producers and Brian Gordon and Erik Olson are producers. The director is Harvey Frost, and David Alexander is the writer, with music by David Lawrence.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 83 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,300 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the top 10 ad-supported cable networks in Prime Time and Total Day household ratings and is the nation's leading network in providing quality family programming. Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel.